Splendours of Southern India

Fly overnight from your chosen airport to Chennai (formerly Madras).

 Known as the ‘capital of the south’, Chennai is brimming with art, culture, and cosmopolitan character. On arrival in Chennai visit St. Thomas Mount Church before proceeding to the 5-star Taj Connemara Hotel which will be your base for the next two nights. In the evening enjoy a welcome dinner at your hotel. (D)

A tour of this strollable city visits its oldest monument, the Shore Temple, a splendid UNESCO World Heritage site of shrines and carved granite monuments; and the 7^th-century Five Rathas pagoda temples, recalling the five Pandava brothers named in the Mahabharata. Continue to neighbouring Mamallapuram for the world’s largest open-air rock relief, Arjuna’s Penance, 27metres-long by 9 high, carved with sculptures of birds and beasts, gods and saints; and the adjacent Krishna Mandapam, where bas-relief carvings depict village and pastoral life.
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Drive (3hrs) to Pondicherry, with an air of arty elegance in the tree-shaded streets of its colonial French Quarter, and a typically colourful and chaotic character in the ‘new’, post-union part of town. Visit the Sri Aurobindo Ashram spiritual community, where yoga and meditation are complemented by craft workshops; the Pondicherry Museum of art and history; and the Catholic Basilica of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, built by French missionaries in 1908, its twin-towered, red and white facade a striking landmark in the town. Overnight at the 4-star ‘CGH Earth’ Palais de Mahe boutique hotel in the French Quarter.
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Travel (3hrs), through the valley of the sacred Kaveri River, to the Gangaikonda Cholapuram Temple, a UNESCO World heritage site, and the only remaining monument of the ancient, destroyed city, with fifty well-defined sculptures adorning the walls. Continue (2hrs) to Tanjore, an important centre of learning and religion in its glory days, its heritage continuing now as a university town. Overnight at the boutique hotel Svatma.
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Visit the fabled Brihadeshwara Temple, dedicated to the god Shiva. Set in gardens studded with ornate ‘gopuram’ towers, the UNESCO listed, 11^th-century temple is a place of pilgrimage for Hindus, and of fascination for historians and art aficionados. Leave Tanjore to visit the ancient city of ‘Trichy’ (or Tiruchirappalli), rich in cultural and architectural heritage, and mentioned by Ptolemy in the 2^nd century BC. View the Rock Fort, blending into the cluster of monolithic formations on which it stands, as you drive to nearby Srirangam to visit the river-island ‘temple town’, a massive and magnificent centre of Hindu pilgrimage. Continue to Madurai (3 hrs), for two nights at the Heritage Hotel or Taj Gateway.
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Set beside the Vaigai River, Madurai is a totally, terrifically Tamil town, yet embraces modernity with a distinctly 21^st century way of life. Enjoy a rickshaw ride to its Meenakshi Amman Temple, as holy to Hindus as it is awe-inspiring for its artistry. Visit the 17^th-century Thirumalai Nayak Palace, its lavish façade featuring phenomenal pillars, 25m high; and the Gandhi Memorial Museum, housed in the Rani Mangammal Mahal, and listed as one of the United Nations Peace Museums.
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Drive up into the Western Ghats (5hrs) to Periyar. Soak-up the scents and scenery on a visit to a spice plantation, and later experience a performance of Kalaraipayattu, a local martial art. Two nights at the 4-star ‘CGH Earth’ Spice Village, Periyar.
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Periyar National Park is one of seven Protected (biodiversity) Areas in India, and on the Project Tiger list of reserves. In a landscape of marshy grasslands, semi-evergreens, and dense tropical forests, a hundred-year-old man-made lake sits at its heart, and Nilgiri langur, lion-tailed macaques and barking deer share the ground with the star attractions. View the scene on a morning boat ride on the lake. Afternoon at leisure.
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This morning, visit a rubber plantation, with lunch at a plantation house; before travelling (4hrs) to Kumarakom, an intriguing backwater village, comprised of a cluster of little man-made islands, and set in the largest of Kerala’s lakes, Vembanad. Overnight at the 4-star ‘CGH Earth’ Coconut Lagoon, accessible only by boat.
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Take to the water on a traditional Keralan houseboat, for a cruise of the web of waterways, with canoes to explore the smaller canals. Overnight on the houseboat.
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Disembark and drive to Cochin, a spice trading centre from the 14^th century, when it was known as ‘the Queen of the Arabian Sea’, and a beguiling and flourishing port city today. A walking tour of Fort Cochin includes the Mattancherry Palace, Paradesi Synagogue, and St. Francis Church; and, at the seafront, the famous, much photographed, Chinese Fishing Nets, hung on teak and bamboo poles. Enjoy a cooking demo and dinner with a local family. Two nights at the 4-star ‘CGH Earth’ Hotel Eighth Bastion within Fort Cochin.
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Visit the village of Kumbalanghi, an Integrated Tourism Village Project which transformed its tiny island into a model fishing village; surrounded by backwaters and liberally draped with Chinese fishing nets. Afternoon at leisure in Cochin. Enjoy an evening performance of Kathakali classical Indian dance.
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Transfer to the airport for your return flight.
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